Chapter 1846
Wei Li stared at him blankly, then slowly looked at his parents. His dad was wearing the same stern face: "Your brother told you to kneel, you go deaf all of a sudden?"
"Bro..."
"Kneel!"
"I..." Wei Li wanted to ask why. This was too sudden, too baffling.
Even if they want him to kneel, they should at least give a reason, right?
But he could see his big brother was really angry.
He wasn’t afraid of his parents; the only person he feared was this brother who was ten years older.
He pressed his lips together and knelt down without another word.
"Do you know you were wrong?"
"..." Wei Li said speechlessly, "Bro, I don’t even know what happened. I come back and you tell me to kneel. How am I supposed to know what I did wrong?"
Hearing the resentment in his tone, Wei De snorted, "Let me ask you, that woman who went to the training with you—if she didn’t want to be your girlfriend, were you planning to take her by force?"
Wei Li immediately got it. For his brother to be this angry, he must have dug out Song Guanchao’s identity.
"Bro, that Song Guanchao isn’t some ordinary guy, is he?"
"At least you’re not dumb beyond saving." Wei De said, "I’ve told you long ago, in how you act and what you do, you need to rein yourself in. I’m just a sub-bureau deputy director. My authority isn’t big enough for you to run wild. I’ve been hammering this into you for years, have you ever listened? If I hadn’t gone over to apologize in person this time, talking nice till my mouth went dry, getting you expelled from public office would’ve been the lightest outcome. If they really wanted to go after you, even I’d get dragged in."
Wei Li jumped in fright. He hadn’t expected Song Guanchao to be that capable.
"Bro, he... what kind of person is he exactly?"
"I don’t know what exactly he is, but Director Jiang of the Municipal Bureau and Mayor Chen were willing to offend the leadership of Beihai Province just to overturn his case. You tell me, is his background big or not?"
Wei Li gulped hard; the bit of resentment in his heart instantly vanished, replaced only by fear.
The highest-ranking official he’d ever had contact with was his own brother; Beijing’s vice mayors and municipal bureau deputy directors... he’d only ever heard about them on the news.
Even his brother, a deputy director, couldn’t just see someone like Jiang Wangshan whenever he wanted.
But those people were willing, for Song Guanchao, to offend others and still dig up a thorny case.
He realized how serious the problem was this time, and how big a hidden danger was buried in what he’d done.
"Bro, I didn’t know his background was that big. If I’d known, you could lend me ten guts and I still wouldn’t dare."
"So now you know fear?"
Seeing his little brother so panicked, Wei De’s expression softened as well. He said earnestly, "From now on, keep a low profile. In a place like Beijing, the one thing there’s no shortage of is big shots. This is the last time I’m saying this to you. If you cause trouble again, I won’t wipe your ass for you anymore."
"Got it, Bro. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely keep a low profile from now on."
"Alright, get up."
Once bitten, twice shy—Wei Li was high-profile, not stupid.
𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
For someone who grew up in a honey pot like him, taking a loss when you’re young isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Wei Li got up, saw his brother’s teacup was empty, grabbed the kettle and refilled it with hot water. Wei De took it and said, "This time Liu Huarui most likely has to take a fall, but I’ve also indirectly offended people. Tomorrow you go talk to that policewoman, see if you can invite her to a meal. I’ll go apologize to her in person."
Wei Li nodded repeatedly.
Wei De sighed and said, "A cadre without anyone above him is a widow official. Any random street punk dares to kick your door open. If people find out I’ve offended someone, all those folks who’ve been flattering me front and back will line up with their pants off, waiting to screw me over."
That crude metaphor made Wei Li a bit embarrassed; he didn’t even know how to respond.
But while the words were rough, they nailed the core logic of officialdom.
What is it you’re really getting when you take office? Isn’t it just a backing?
A person without backing is unstable, and in officialdom it’s even more so.
...
Late at night, Song Guanchao lay on the bed drenched in sweat, Liang Jiajia’s lithe, alluring body lying quietly in his arms.
"When are you going back?" Liang Jiajia wriggled, rolled over, propped the pillow behind her head, her tone lazy.
"Tomorrow, I guess." It was already the third day of the new year. Before the holidays, Wu Qiangwei had invited him to spend the New Year at her place.
He’d been busy with Lin Siyuan’s case these past two days, but he still took time to keep in touch with her.
And besides Wu Qiangwei, there were a few other women.
It’s New Year; he couldn’t just vanish on them.
"So soon?"
"It’s already the fourth day, I’ve got to hurry back."
Song Guanchao turned over, pinched her sharp little chin, kissed her on the mouth, and then pressed her down under him.
The next day.
Early in the morning, Liang Jiajia arrived at the precinct she’d been assigned to. After the routine morning meeting, Wei Li suddenly walked over.
Liang Jiajia frowned and was about to walk away when Wei Li hurried his pace. "Jiajia."
"We’re not that close. Don’t call me by name like that." Liang Jiajia was very impatient with him.
Holding back his irritation, Wei Li forced a smile. "Jiajia, are you free at noon? My brother wants to treat you to lunch."
He didn’t dare say he was the one treating, afraid she’d refuse.
"Your brother?" Liang Jiajia’s expression turned odd, but soon she thought of a possible reason.
Probably because Lin Siyuan’s case was about to be overturned, Wei Li’s brother was afraid of getting implicated, so he’d come to her.
Thinking of that made her angry.
Even though Song Guanchao had deliberately staged a sting, Wei Li really had sold him out, and that still pissed Liang Jiajia off.
"Yeah, my brother, not me. Jiajia, give us a chance, okay?" Wei Li had never lowered himself this much.
Normally, with Liang Jiajia’s temperament, she wouldn’t even bother with him. But she worried it might affect Song Guanchao.
After thinking it over, she said, "We’ll talk at noon."
When she finished, she walked outside to call Song Guanchao.
When he heard that Wei De wanted to treat her to a meal, Song Guanchao’s face immediately darkened.
He had asked Jiang Wangshan to pass word to Han Kui’an and Wei De not to expose his identity.
Now he didn’t know whether Jiang Wangshan had forgotten, or Wei De had just taken it upon himself.
This kind of thing wasn’t something he could directly question Jiang Wangshan about.
"I’ll go with you at noon."
"I thought you were heading back?"
"I’ll leave after we eat."
Hanging up, Liang Jiajia looked up and saw Wei Li watching her from not far away.
She walked over and said, "My boyfriend’s coming at noon too."
"Okay, no problem." Wei Li was secretly overjoyed. If they were willing to have a meal, it meant Song Guanchao was prepared to make peace. That was a good sign.
Meanwhile, on his side, Song Guanchao contacted Jiang Wangshan and asked him to send over Wei De’s number.
Jiang Wangshan asked a couple of questions, and only then learned about the planned meal. He immediately slapped his own forehead. "My fault, I forgot."
What could Song Guanchao say? He just exchanged a few words and let it go.
Once he had the number, he called Wei De.
Hearing Song Guanchao report his name, Wei De immediately sat up straight, his voice turning humble. "Hello, Director Song."
Song Guanchao said, "At the lunch today, just apologize to Jiajia. Don’t say anything else. And don’t let anyone know about my relationship with Director Jiang."
What a strange request.
Wei De couldn’t make sense of it, but verbally he agreed over and over.
After hanging up, he mulled it over and felt that Song Guanchao must be the low-key type.
But hiding it even from his own girlfriend was something he really couldn’t wrap his head around.
Still, since the man had personally called to spell out his request, there was no way he dared run his mouth.
"Almost forgot." Wei De quickly called Wei Li to warn him a few times as well, in case he let something slip on his end.
Receiving the call, Wei Li was just as confused. He couldn’t figure out why Song Guanchao insisted on keeping such a low profile.